R. Thorne

Again, thanks, Roger. Some more progress. My goal is to finish this by Sunday night. We’ll see. Installed driveshaft, headers, dipped windows in floor polish, black washed grilles (needs another coat tomorrow). Trans pan got scuffed up somehow. Will fix tomorrow. Done for tonight.

Great model with careful detailing. My brother bought a new 1964 galaxie with the fastback styling. His was also Wimbledon white but with a black interior and a 390 with an automatic trans. I got to drive it on my senior prom night in 1964. Boy, I was in heaven. Still one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

Decided not to wire this engine for a number of reasons. Instead, painted the cap and coil with some testors enamel after loosening the lid with a few taps from my screwdriver handle (I posted this in the tips column). Driveshaft was too short (because I swapped to an automatic trans). Found one from a 1966 Chevelle wagon partial kit that I had ordered for other parts.

“Much ado about nothing”

Usually open ‘em with my large pliars after running hot water on the lids, but had one that wouldn’t give up the ghost today. YouTube to the rescue. Tapped on the top of the lid with the plastic handle 3 or 4 times, then turned it 180 degrees and tapped it again. Viola! High tech stuff.

Calling the interior done.

Thanks, Daniel. Drilled some holes in a parts box steering wheel that more closely matched Mike’s, painted with stynlrez primer and semi gloss black, painted shifter. Also, modified stick shift brake pedal to look like an automatic by using the clutch pedal. Closer and closer to the finish line on this build.

Some work on the front tires, what I am trying to emulate on the front end, MSD glued to the cage, installed seats and cage. Just finished gluing on the side panels, tach, dash, and gauges. Pic tomorrow.

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the replies.

Yes, I always do. Just one of my pre paint procedures.

Ok, my curiousity has gotten the better of me. There is a considerable difference in price between these 2 kits. One is Revell of Germany and the other is Revell Monogram. Other than one advertised as a W30 and the other a 442, what’s the difference and is the quality the same? Or is there a better kit of the 1971 Cutlass hardtop than these 2?

Since the Modelmaster 8872 is no longer available, you might try the Testors 3507 if you are looking for a thicker cement.

Hope to see him back soon. His daily YouTube junkyard “classroom “ shows are sorely missed.

My high tech smaller drill bit with sandpaper wrapped around to ream out a couple of thousandths.

Still working on the spacers. Made some shims from .025” rod to level out mounting the calipers/rotors. Reaming out the holes on some 19” rims to fit over my bushings, then will cut the centers out. Also, tried out my new xuron hard wire cutters I received today, to cut some 1/16” tig wire for axle stubs.

Thanks and I agree wholeheartedly. Made some wheel hubs out of aluminum and styrene tubing. A lot of tools and some head scratching later and I have 2 bushings inside 2 bushings which will have 2 more pins attached later to mount the wheels. Now I need another bushing to space the caliper back from the wheel.

Again, thanks for the kind words, gentlemen. My “builder’s block” not withstanding, I am trying to keep moving on and not be so particular. I had some 3D printed shifters that I got a while back on eBay. Though not an exact match for the TurboAction SCS shifter in Mike’s car (one of the most popular shifters used in current Stock Eliminator drag cars) no one makes anything like them that I know of. So, I am modifying one with some square styrene. I started to scratch build one, but decided against it . The shoulder harness kit that I had is not designed for the 3” wide belts that have been required for some time. The ends will not accept .120” wide harness material so, I think I am going to leave them off. Oh yeah, started on the front wheel .

Made a spacer to mount the cage 1/4” forward. Drilled some .035” holes for styrene pins in the main base of the roll cage and extended the rear bars and shortened the front bars. After that, applied some Rustoleum gloss gray to the cage and mr. Color iron to the seat bottom and semi gloss black to the back.

Thanks for the suggestion. I just dislike tedious hand sanding, I guess. Adjusted the location of the cage, now for some gray paint.

Well, my most go to tool is this rather cheap looking, but works great, reasonably priced ($28 from Amazon shipped) set of nippers from 3.peaks.

After a couple coats of semi gloss, applied the decals, and calling them done.

Good overhead lighting can be key. Also, having a white background keeps me from using a magnifier so much.

Thanks, gentlemen. One of the added benefits of posting pics (plus, I am always thankful for comments, criticism, and suggestions) is seeing things that you may have missed. I am this time referring to the roughness of the sidewalls (thanks, Roger, for your astute observation). I used too rough of a sanding drum (80 grit). Lesson learned. Smoothed it a bit with my new David Union sander (well, I just had to try it out) and then some hand sanding with 220 and 400 sandpaper . Had it to do over, would use the David Union and hand sanding. Anyway, put a coat of semi gloss clear on and we’ll see how it looks then. Oh, thanks for the racing info, Roger. I had watched it on tv.

Race coverage update, Roger. Mike did make a pass Friday evening and won 1st round Saturday. They were rained out today and scheduled to run tomorrow. Back to the model. Did some sanding on the rear slicks to remove the Goodyear cast in and make the finish more realistic. I sand with a medium grit sanding stick with a drum sander wrapped with masking tape on the tread and as much as I can get on the sidewall. Then, another sanding drum with a sanding roll to finish the inside part and make it more concave (convex?) to simulate running a narrower wheel width . Had to call in my backup cordless drill to finish the 2nd tire.

Again, thank you, Roger. The Jeep was a nice, calm, break in the action. If Mike is there, he didn’t make a pass today. I watched (and am watching) the free live coverage of the Bowlingreen points meet today on YouTube. It’s on all weekend and will definitely cut into my modeling time.